The industrial design students from New York’s Pratt Institute, one of the US’ top art and design colleges which, besides celebrating its 125th anniversary, can also pride itself on having launched the careers of numerous acclaimed artists, designers, architects, photographers and all-round creatives such as Max Weber, Robert Mapplethrope, Carlos Zapata, Wiliam Van Alen, Paul Rand or Robert Redford, have been invited to collaborate with the Italian manufacturer Cappellini on a series of ‘boldly disruptive futuristic furniture designs’.

'Chair with Belly Button' by the Taiwanese artist and designer Wang I Chao; photo by Armando Rafael

Nine of the best designs from the ‘Perpetual Motion’ series, which challenged undergraduate and graduate students ‘to create modern and innovative furniture design prototypes that remain rooted in boldly disruptive ideas, while keeping the dynamism of design moving into the future,’ have been presented at at this year’s ICFF in New York. Among the selected students who showcased their designs were: Kyung ho Chang, Wang I Chao, Arnold Chu, Chun Chun, Edward Hale, Li-Rong Liao, Dana Oxiles, Jesse Trentadue, and Elizabeth Joy Wong.